er in
possession.

Under such an organisation the family and social customs were in most
cases--and always, I believe, in their complete maternal
form--favourable to women. Kinship was reckoned through the mother,
since in this way alone could the undivided family be maintained. The
continuity of the clan thus depending on the women, they were placed
in a very special position of importance, the mother was at least the
nominal head of the household, shaping the destiny of the clan through
the aid of her clan-kindred. Her closest male relation was not her
husband, but her brother and her son; she was the conduit by which
property passed to and from them. Often women established their own
claims and all property was held by them; which under favourable
circumstances developed into what may literally be called a
matriarchate. In all cases the child's position was dependent entirely
on the mother and not on the father. Such a system of inheritance may
be briefly summarised as "mother-right."

There is another matter to notice. Every possible experiment in sexual
association has been tried, and is still practised among various
barbarous races, with very little reference to those moral ideas to
which we are accustomed. It is, however, very necessary to remember
that monogamy is frequent and indeed usual under the maternal system.
We have seen many examples where, with complete freedom of separation
held by the wife, lasting and most happy marriages are the rule. When
the husband lives with his wife in a dependent position to her family
he can do so only in the case of one woman. For this reason polygamy
is much less deeply rooted under the conditions in which the communal
life is developed than in patriarchal communities. In the complete
maternal family it is never common, and is even prohibited.[247]

[247] It is significant that in Sumatra polygamy occurs with
the _djudur_ marriages, where the wife is bought and lives
with her husband, while it is unknown in the maternal
marriages. It is frequent in Africa and elsewhere, when the
marriage is not the maternal form.

As we might expect, the case is quite opposite with polyandry. This
form of marriage has evident advantages for women when compared with
polygamy; it is also a form that requires a certain degree of social
civilisation. It clearly involves the limitation of the individual
marital rights of the husband. Polyandry in the joint family group